17 May 2012

Mangal City

Design team Chimera has conceived of an incredible series of spiraling skyscrapers for New York’s Hudson Yards that are modeled after the complex ecosystems created by the mangrove tree. Dubbed “Mangal City”, the project is an “urban ecological system” composed of modular pod capsules that shift to adapt to environmental and contextual conditions. A beautiful example of biomimicry and certainly a flight of fancy, the plan proposes a futuristic building system based upon flexibility.

Featuring a twisting latticed frame reminiscent of Eric Vergne’s Manhattan skyscraper farms, “Mangal City” harnesses biomimetic principles borrowed from a range of sources. The skyscraper’s structure is modeled after mangrove trees, spiraling plant growth patterns, and the interaction of natural ecosystems.The project was designed by Pierandrea Angius, Alkis Dikaios, Thomas Jacobsen, and Carlos Parraga-Botero and is a thesis proposal for the Masters of Architecture in Parametric Urbanism program at the AASchool of Architecture in London.According to the designers, “our vision is to define an urban ecosystem which supports housing and cultural programs and has the ability to adapt, transform, mutate and adjust according to the specific urban and social character of the site”.

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An ecological future, one that is resilient, resource-abundant and conducive to life, lies in the knowledge banks of nature’s elegant solutions taken from 3.8 billion years of a research and development period (R&D).
In this elective course we explore nature's solutions to the challenges we grapple with as architects and designers. WELCOME!